Sydney commuters the nation's least satisfied

Dec 4, 2012

Sydney commuters are bigger users of public transport than other Australian urban dwellers, but that doesn't mean they like it.

The proportion of Sydneysiders using mass transit to travel to work is the highest of all Australia's big cities, yet only a quarter agree it has good transport infrastructure, the State of Australian Cities 2012 report says.

The federal report gives a snapshot of the country's largest city, home to 4,605,993 people by 2011.

Sydneysiders are the least satisfied in their public transport, with only 27 per cent describing it as "good", according to the study, released by Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday. Nevertheless, 67 per cent use their cars to get to work - the lowest proportion of all capital cities - while the highest proportion of 22.3 per cent use public transport.

The costs of Sydney's stretched transport system are draining billions from the public purse, the report said.

"The proportion of the operating costs of mass transit systems being recovered through fare collection in Sydney is declining steadily, and in 2011 the shortfall exceeded $3 billion," it said.

Turning to housing, the report said private dwellings in Sydney increased by 97,859 in the five years to 2011, while the city's population increased by 272,483 over the period.

A rising percentage of Sydney's housing stock is flats and units is increasing, and the proportion of multi-unit dwellings is second only to the Gold Coast.

Sydney's occupancy rate is also higher than the national average of 2.73 per people per dwelling, at 2.88.

The State of Australian Cities report found the cost of living in Australian cities had been relatively stable for two decades, but Sydney continued to be the most expensive and had the highest average costs for electricity, mortgage interest, transport and recreation.

Sydney also remained the country's most popular destination for international and domestic tourists, the report said.